metaisvsmetalConfusable pair

Which to use

“metais” and “metal” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,788
“metais” frequency rank
#3,027
“metal” frequency rank
11815
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature metais metal
Definition instrumentos musicais de latão, e que geralmente compõem uma orquestra toda substância simples, dotada de brilho próprio (brilho metálico), boa condutora de calor e de eletricidade, que forma óxidos básicos em contato com o oxigênio, e que na eletrólise se dirige ao pólo negativo

Letter map: metais vs metal

Shared letters muted; letters that set metais and metal apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. metais runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against metal's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
metais
5 ch
metal

Spelling & dictionary notes on metais vs metal

metais and metal are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11815, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

metais is recorded at frequency rank #8,788, classified as anoun. metal is at rank #3,027, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ˈtaɫ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 11815, this pair ranks #60,950 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of metais vs metal

Shared letters: aemt. Private to "metais": is. Private to "metal": l.

"metais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "metal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • metais ← emtais · meatis · metaiss · metasi · metias · mettais · mmetais · mteais
  • metal ← emtal · meatl · metall · metla · mettal · mmetal · mteal

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "metais" for "metal" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "metais" or "metal" show up more?
"metal" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,027 in our Portuguese list, against #8,788 for "metais". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "metais" vs "metal" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "metais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "metal" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,950 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "metais" and "metal" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "means vs metais". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #60,950 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list